Committee of the Peoples Charter (CPC) is a non-partisan political, economic, social and democratic accountability movement founded in 2011 in pursuit of the realization of the societal objectives enunciated by the Zimbabwe People’s Charter adopted at the Peoples Convention on 9 February 2008 in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Thursday, 30 April 2015

WORKERS DAY STATEMENT

Issue Date: 30 April 2015

The
Committee of the Peoples Charter (CPC) joins the rest of the world in
commemorating the May Day. This year’s Workers Day commemorations come at a
time when workers, both formal and informal are grappling with immeasurable challenges,
notably receding employment opportunities, slave wages below the poverty line,
all a result of a declining economy.

The
CPC notes the current economic reality of Zimbabwe suggests a scenario where
formal employment numbers are drastically dropping each month and currently
only an estimated 15% of Zimbabweans are formally employed.

This
reality has mutilated the economy to an extent where the majority of those
pushed out of formal employment and the unemployed have resorted to vending.

This
development is against the backdrop of the government failing to fulfill its
electoral promise to create 2, 2 million jobs by 2018 under its much vaunted economic
blueprint Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation
(ZimAsset).

With
an average 250 000 scholars leaving our high schools and tertiary institutions
each year, the unemployment situation is very dire for young people.

The
CPC also notes with the concern the government's intention to legislate Labour
Flexibility which will among other things link remuneration to productivity,
making it easier for employers to hire and fire employees and fundamentally
reduce all employment to casual labour.

This
is against the aspirations of the majority of Zimbabwean workers and a clear
sign that the government has completely departed from the social democratic
norms to protecting capital and employers at the detriment of the poor and
workers.

If
implemented, this will erode employee rights as new capital and foreign investors
especially Chinese would literally reduce local labour into slaves as workers will simply be fired
or only hired on short term contracts, thus denying them social protection in
their old age.

It
is important to note on this day that the responsibility to provide jobs and a
meaningful livelihood option for citizens lies primarily with the state.

As
the custodian of all national resources, both natural and man-made, the
government ought to be the chief propagator of access to opportunities for its
citizens, key of which is a sustainable livelihood.

Fair
labour standards must be applied and this should include a living minimum wage
linked to inflation and poverty datum line, living pension and security
allowances for all retirees and the elderly.
This should suffice for both public and private sector workers. If our workers get a living wage, then other
attendant issues such as health care, education, housing, access to water and
sanitation can become a reality.

The
CPC urges the present government to take the plight of workers and the general
citizenry seriously, and to show greater commitment to creating an economy and
attendant conditions that are favourable to the workers and the general
citizenry.

Policy
inconsistency remains a major challenge with our government, a factor that
continues to hamper meaningful foreign direct investment that can resuscitate
our comatose economy. This is exacerbated by rampant corruption in the public
and private sectors which again continues to hamper development.

The government should seriously consider
the full functionality of the tripartite negotiating forum, in pursuit of a
binding social contract to take the economy and country forward. The onus is
also upon the workers, including those in the largely dominant informal sector
to organize themselves and to demand amenable working conditions and policies
that can drive our country forward, in pursuit of a socially just and
prosperous Zimbabwe.